Nintendo announced a price cut of the 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 in the U.S. effective August 12, 2011.
Japan will see a price cut from 25,000 yen to 15,000 yen on August 11. Australians will see a cut from AU$349.95 down to AU$250 on August 12. Pricing for Europe has not been announced.
"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."
If you purchased a 3DS anytime before the price cut date, you will receive 10 free Virtual Console NES and 10 free Gameboy Advance games. Users must connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before the price cut date. They will then be automatically registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program.
The list of NES games include:
Super Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Balloon Fight
Ice Climber
The Legend of Zelda
+5 more
These titles are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. "Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost."
The list of GBA games include:
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Metroid Fusion
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
+5 more
Nintendo says the GBA games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and that it "currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future."
